The inflammatory process in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects many organs including the lungs. Chemokines are suggested to play important roles in the pathogenesis of SLE with pulmonary fibrosis (PF). In the present study, our objective is to evaluate the correlation between chemokines and PF in SLE patients. Transcriptome sequencing analysis was used to find the different expressed genes between SLE patients with PF and without PF. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect serum levels of chemokines in SLE patients and healthy controls. Expression of CX3CR1 was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and flow cytometer. Sixteen differentially chemokine genes were found to be associated to SLE with PF. Meanwhile, the upregulation of C-X3-C motif chemokine receptor 1 (CX3CR1) and its ligand, CX3C chemokine ligand 1 (CX3CL1) were observed in SLE patients with PF than that of SLE patients without PF and healthy control. Phenotypic analysis also showed that the surface expression of CX3CR1 increased in PBMCs from SLE patients with PF. Our observations indicated that CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis is associated with PF in SLE. CX3CR1 might be a promising predictor of SLE with PF and the interactions between CX3CL1 and CX3CR1 might provide potential candidate target for the treatment of SLE with PF.

中文翻译：

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CX3CR1 可能是系统性红斑狼疮肺纤维化患者的有希望的预测因子

系统性红斑狼疮 (SLE) 的炎症过程会影响包括肺在内的许多器官。趋化因子被认为在伴肺纤维化 (PF) 的 SLE 发病机制中起重要作用。在本研究中，我们的目标是评估 SLE 患者中趋化因子与 PF 之间的相关性。转录组测序分析用于寻找伴 PF 和不伴 PF 的 SLE 患者的不同表达基因。酶联免疫吸附试验 (ELISA) 用于检测 SLE 患者和健康对照的血清趋化因子水平。通过实时聚合酶链反应 (PCR) 和流式细胞仪测量 CX3CR1 的表达。发现 16 个差异趋化因子基因与 SLE 和 PF 相关。同时，C-X3-C 基序趋化因子受体 1 （CX3CR1) 及其配体 CX3C 趋化因子配体 1 (CX3CL1) 在伴 PF 的 SLE 患者中观察到，而不是在没有 PF 的 SLE 患者和健康对照中。表型分析还表明 CX3CR1 的表面表达在 SLE PF 患者的 PBMC 中增加。我们的观察表明 CX3CL1/CX3CR1 轴与 SLE 中的 PF 相关。CX3CR1 可能是 SLE 伴 PF 的有希望的预测因子，CX3CL1 和 CX3CR1 之间的相互作用可能为治疗伴 PF 的 SLE 提供潜在的候选靶点。